ETHICS MIDTERMS

Hedonism

is an ethical doctrine which claims that pleasure is the norm of morality.

Aristippus

is regarded as the founder of the pleasure principle (c.400
B.C.). He taught that pleasure is the one and only good, hence it must be the basis of moral judgment.

Stoicism

considers apathy or indifference to pleasure as the moral norm. ___ highest virtues or ideals are mental tranquility, temperance, contentment, serenity and composure. The greatest is peace of mind.

Apatheia

The basis for moral action for Stoics, it is a state of imperturbability which is attainable through apathy or indifference to pleasure.

Epicureanism

is the intermediate pleasure doctrine between hedonism and stoicism. Moderate pleasure is moral norm

Situationism

is also known as contextualism or situation ethics.

Situationism

the moral norm depends upon a given situation, but whatever this situation may be, one must always act in the name of Christian love.

Joseph Fletcher

advocate of Situationism. He mentions three approaches to morality; legalism, antinomianism, and Situationism

Legalism

legalistic approach

Antinomianism

No absolute precepts or moral principles by which to be guided in making decisions

Eros

Erotic love means sexual love.

Philia

Filial love refers to the affection that binds a parent to his or her child, a brother to his sister, a brother to his brother or sister to his sister.

Agape

___ love refers to one's concern and kindness towards others. Christian love, in Fletcher's view, best exemplifies Agape.

Power Ethics

claims that might is right.

Thyrasymachus

What is right or just is nothing but the interest of the strongest

Humanistic Ethics

claims that self-realization is the true ultimate standard of morality.

Self realization

is understood as self-fulfillment, fullness of life, and full development of all the functions of an individual. Any act that promotes ____ are good; whereas all acts that hinder it are evil.

Aristotle (384-322 B.C)

is regarded as the foremost proponent of the ethical school of thought known as self-realizationism, which is exclusively found in Nichomahean Ethics, named after his son Nichomachus to whom the book was dedicated.

Thomistic Ethics

___ (1225-1274) gave this ethical doctrine in its most influential formulation and articulation. In ____’ view, the source of moral law is the reason itself. “Do good, avoid evil.” “Gawin ang mabuti, iwasan ang masama.”

Synderesis

the term that Aquinas used to describe this inherent capacity of every individual, lettered or unlettered, to distinguish the good from bad.

Filipino Centripetal Ethics

refers to the people’s using the self as the center, basis, or gauge of moral judgments, of good and evil.

The Filipino Centripetal Concept of Morality

revolves around (1) the golden rule (*ginintuang tuntunin*), and (2) the nonjudgmental or noncritical (*di paghuhusga o di pamumula*)

Ginintuan Tuntunin

"Ang masama sayo, wag mong gawin sa kapwa mo." Tuntuning Di Paghuhusga's di Pamumula

Ethics

is about matters such as the good thing that we should pursue and the bad thing we should avoid; the right ways in which we could or should act and the wrong ways of acting.

Ethics

is about what is acceptable and unacceptable in human behavior.

Ethics

may involve obligations that we are expected to fulfill or prohibitions that we are required to respect, or ideals that we are encouraged to meet.

Ethics

as a subject is about determining the grounds or bases for a specific set of values with particular and special significance to human life.

harness

the world “out there” can also be a place of intimidation, of coercion, of violence, a place of bullying and hazing.

valuation

concerned with enforcing rules or encouraging ideals; can also be concrete reactions to real-life issues (this is good, that is bad). not all valuations are ethical.

values

value judgments not always part of ethics; can be monetary, aesthetic, technical, etiquette, or ethical.

aesthetics

from the greek word aesthesis meaning “sense” or “feeling” and refers to the judgments of personal approval or disapproval that we make about what we see, hear, smell or taste.

technical valuation

(from the greek word techne) valuation that refers to proper or right way of doing things.

etiquette

is concerned with right and wrong actions maintained by the society to which we belong

ethical

acceptable behavior

unethical

unacceptable behavior

moral

specific beliefs or attitudes that people have or acts that people perform

immoral

behaving improperly

amoral

neither right or wrong

moral judgment or moral reasoning

suggest a more rational dimension at work

ethics

the discipline of studying and understanding human behavior and ideal ways of thinking; an intellectual discipline belonging to philosophy

professional ethics

acceptable and unacceptable ways of behaving in a given field

descriptive study of ethics

reports how people, particularly groups, make their moral valuation without judgment either for or against

normative study of ethics

 asks: what could or should be considered as the right way of acting? prescribes standards or bases for moral valuation

moral issue

a situation that calls for moral valuation

moral decision

when one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice of what act to perform

moral judgement

when a person is an observer making an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone

moral dilemma

when one is torn between choosing one of two goods or between the lesser of two evils

abstraction

detaching itself from the particular situation

principles

rationally established grounds by which one justifies and maintains moral decisions and judgments

moral theory

a systematic attempt to establish the validity of maintaining certain moral principles; a system of thoughts and ideas, also called a framework

framework

a theory of connected ideas and a structure through which we can evaluate reasons for valuing a decision or judgment

Positive law

refers to all the different rules and regulations that are posited or put forward by an authority which requires one’s compliance

divine command theory

god commands us and each of us to obey our creator

religion

the idea that one is obliged to obey god in all things; not simply prohibitive but also provides ideals to pursue

Socrates and Euthyphro (Plato’s Dialogue)

How one is supposed to define holiness?

Euthyphro

What is holy is what is loved by the gods

Socrates

Is it holy only because it is loved by the gods, or is it holy in itself and that is why it is loved by the gods?

cultural relativism

there is no single universal standard for moral valuations

cultural relativism

recognizes differences in how cultures make ethical valuations; promotes tolerance and humility by discouraging the belief that one’s culture is superior; problem arises when assuming culture is fixed or singular

james rachels on culture

cultural relativism is based on difference; no position to judge practices of another culture (headhunting) or even one’s own (arranged marriage); difficulty when a person belongs to more than one culture

subjectivism

the individual thinking person (the subject) is at the heart of all moral valuations

Psychological Egoism

tries to describe the underlying dynamic behind all human actions as a matter of pursuit of self-interest.

psychological egoism descriptive theory

all human actions are motivated by self-interest; all actions are geared toward satisfying the interests of the self

ethical egoism

actions are right if they result in what is best for oneself; everyone ought to put their own self at the center; the self is the priority above all else